Plasma IP-10 as a predictor of serious bacterial infection in infants less than 4 months of age.
BACKGROUND
Early diagnosis of serious bacterial infection (SBI) in young infants is a difficult problem by clinical symptoms and signs. The goal of this study is to evaluate the predictive value of plasma IP-10 levels for early diagnosis of SBI in young infants <4 months of age.


METHODS
We enrolled pediatric patients who were <4 months of age with a clinical suspicion to have SBI admitted in neonatal intensive care unit or complete nursing unit of Pediatric Department of Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital. Blood was drawn for measurement of complete blood counts, C-reactive protein (CRP) and plasma IP-10 levels and microbiological cultures were obtained at the time of admission.


RESULTS
There were 60 patients enrolled in this study. The SBI group (n = 21) have higher plasma IP-10 levels than those infants without SBI (n = 39) [median 104.8 (range 0-1457.1) versus 0 (range 0-129.3) ng ml(-1), P = 0.0161 after adjusting age]. A plasma IP-10 level >48.2 ng ml(-1) had the best diagnostic accuracy for indicating SBI [sensitivity 81.0% [95% confidence interval (CI) 71.1-90.1%]; specificity 94.9% [95% CI 65.4-87.0%]; positive likelihood ratio 15.9, negative likelihood ratio 0.2}.


CONCLUSIONS
In infants who were <4 months of age with suspicion of SBI, IP-10 assay might be a good predictor.
Chen
Hsiu-Lin
HL
Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Hung
Chih-Hsing
CH
Tseng
Hsing-I
HI
Yang
Rei-Cheng
RC
D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D054357:Chemokine CXCL10 / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve
D054357:Chemokine CXCL10; D002097:C-Reactive Protein